TES Episode 1: Like an Echidna Scorned
by John the Enforcer
Summary: The first episode of "The Enforcer Saga" shall introduce you to the world of which it takes place...


THE ENFORCER SAGA  
  
Chapter 1: Like an Echidna Scorned  
  
By  
  
John "the Echidna" Fadeley  
  
The year: 3232. The place: Mobius. It has been eight years since Robotnik, the cruel dictator and builder of robots, had laid claim to Mobitropolis. During the coup of 3224, he transformed the peaceful city into Robotropolis, his twisted, polluted idea of Utopia. But now, a valiant group of freedom fighters make their stand to prevent Robotnik from spreading his evil rule to the rest of Mobius. In these dark times, the Knothole Freedom Fighters, lead by the beautiful and wise Princess Sally Alicia Acorn, are eager to recruit new allies to aid their cause. Until, one day...  
  
"Man, did you see how I wasted that Swatbot? BAM! Went right through it with my Sonic Spin!" Sonic proudly exclaimed.  
  
"That's nothing! You should have seen how I chopped that Swatbot to bits with my lightsaber!" Dave, a yellow hedgehog, replied.  
  
The two hedgehogs were returning to Knothole after a dangerous mission in Robotropolis. As they ran though the snow-laden Great Forest, Sonic tripped over something. Shaking the snow from his head, he then glared at Dave, thinking the yellow hedgehog tripped him up.   
  
"That was way past uncool, Dave! Why'd you trip me like that?" Sonic demanded.  
  
"It wasn't me, Sonic. You must have tripped over that blue tree root." Dave explained.  
  
Then it dawned on both of them. "Wait a minute! Trees don't turn blue during the winter." Sonic stated.  
  
Dave scratched his head, then asked, "Well, if it's not a tree root, then...what is it?"  
  
Sonic walked over to the tree where the exposed "root" was and said, "How about if we brush the snow off of it and find out?"  
  
Dave shook his head and replied, "I don't know, Sonic. I have a bad feeling about this."   
  
Sonic turned around to face Dave, frowned, and said, "You always say that!"  
  
"Sonic, I'm not kidding! I can't explain why, but if I were you, I'd leave whatever-this-is alone!" Dave argued.  
  
Sonic then said, "Well, you're not me, are you?"  
  
Dave, feeling that he had lost the argument, sat down next to Sonic and helped him brush away snow from the object. After a while, they uncovered what they felt was the most bizarre looking being they had ever seen.   
  
It had a snout, similar to theirs, except longer and more slender. The being had a blue skin pigmentation except for a black ring marking around his neck. The being was wearing a dark green tank top, black shorts, black leather gloves with holes to make way for his fingers, and black & blue shoes. They lifted the stranger's head and found a pair of high-tech glasses over the being's silvery-blue eyes. To top off the being's odd appearance, he had nine, snake-like protrusions that seemed to come out from one side of the being's head to the other.  
  
Sonic looked at Dave and asked, "So, what do you think this guy is?"  
  
Before Dave could answer, the stranger got to his feet and into a defensive stance. As the being balled up his fists, a pair of sharp claws emerged from the knuckles! "Who are you?! What do want from me?!" the being demanded.   
  
Sonic raised his hands up to his chest and assured the stranger that he and Dave meant no harm. Then, the being made an odd expression on his face and collapsed to the ground.   
  
"I wonder what that was all about?" Dave asked.  
  
"I don't know." Sonic replied.  
  
The being then looked up at them and, in a weak voice, said, "Please...h-h-h-h-help...m-m-me...uh!". Again, his face hit the snow-covered ground.  
  
"Well, you heard the...the...whatever-he-is. Let's take him back to base before he freezes to death!" Sonic said as he picked up the enigmatic being.  
  
"Hold it, Sonic! What are those things on his wrists?" Dave asked.  
  
Sonic looked. There, a bit below the being's wrists, were a pair of small, black spikes that then retracted into the being's skin.  
  
"Sonic, I really think we should leave what ever this...thing is alone." Dave warned Sonic...until he noticed that Sonic was gone, leaving a trail of melted snow behind him as he ran back to Knothole. Knowing that Robotnik would use the trail to find the Freedom Fighters' base, Dave curled up into a ball and began bumping into the trees to shake off the snow and cover up Sonic's trail.  
  
"Dave, you're a genius!" he thought to himself.  
  
"So, Sal, what specie is our friend here?" Sonic asked, pointing to the strange being, which was floating in an aquarium-like hydro-healer.  
  
Sally took out her hand-held computer, Nichole, and said, "Nichole, run a bio-scan on our guest here and give us the results on a holographic display."  
  
Nichole did so and droned, "Being's specie: inconclusive. Closest biological match: Echidna. Alternate DNA strain found but does not correlate with any Mobian specie. Being's gender: Male. Approximate age: 16 standard years old. Brain mass suggests a higher degree of intelligence than in Mobian echidnas."  
  
Sonic looked at Dave, then at Sally and said, "I don't know about you guys, but I think our new friend here has had enough. Let's get him out of there."  
  
"Wait! Let's leave him in there for a while longer. I mean, that blue skin color...it can't be natural" Sally protested.  
  
But as they debated, the being opened his silvery blue eyes. Even though there was an oxygen mask on him, feeding him air, he panicked and tried to open the top of the hydro-healer. Then, the being's eyes began to glow.  
  
"Say, Sal, is the floor supposed to be wet?" Sonic asked when he noticed a wet substance on the floor.   
  
Sally looked, saw what Sonic meant, then looked at the hydro-healer's glass casing. It was starting to crack. "What on Mobius...Sonic, the glass! It's cracking!" she cried.   
  
"What?! What's going on?" Sonic frantically asked.  
  
Then the glass tube broke open, spilling out warm water and the being. Now the being was trying to rip the mask off of his face. Sally came forward and tried to help him, but then the being balled up his fists again and used the retractable claws to practically destroy the mask. Afterwards, the being took in seven deep breaths before looking at Sally directly in the eye.   
  
"Who are you? What is this place? How did I get here?" the being asked while shooting the gathered Freedom Fighters mean looks. He had a tenor voice, rich and soothing.  
  
"Please calm down. We're not going to hurt you." Sally calmly assured.   
  
The being, instead of responding, merely collapsed on the floor.  
  
"Well, how is our guest doing now?" Sally asked Rotor.  
  
The being was now sitting in a chair behind a table in a blank, white room. Sally and Rotor were looking in at him behind a one-way mirror.  
  
Rotor said, "He hasn't said a thing. His vitals are fully recovered and he's in perfect medical health. However, he's suffering from some sort of mental trauma. At one point, he flew into a terrible rage, attacked and injured four medical personnel and eight security guards. The amount would've gone higher if I didn't clobber him in the head with my hammer and subdue him."  
  
"Well, so much for diplomacy." Sally sighed.  
  
She then said that she was going to going to confront the being and find out what was wrong with him.  
  
Dave immediately protested, "Princess, I must advise against this action. He did take down eight security guards in less than a minute!"  
  
Sally then agreed, "Alright. If you care that much, you can come into the room the instant he gets out of control."  
  
With that, she entered the room. Dave shook his head, muttering, "Oh, Sally, I hope you know what you're doing."  
  
Sally was now facing the being, alone, unarmed, and with Dave, Sonic, and Rotor watching the two of them nervously. The echidna looked up at her, grinned, and said, "I know you. You were the one who said my skin color was unnatural."  
  
Sally was a bit stunned that he actually heard her comment...despite the fact that he was in the hydro-healer. Still, she had to keep her cool.   
  
"Yes, that was me. I'm Princess Sally Alicia Acorn of the Knothole Freedom Fighters" she replied, feeling a tad uncertain.  
  
"Charmed, I'm sure." the being said, "I'm John the Echidna. And I must say, it is an absolute pleasure to meet in person." He then kissed her hand with all the flare and grace of a prince.  
  
"Well, thank you." Sally replied, quite flattered by the echidna's good manners and protocol.   
  
But then, it struck her: how could this being have heard of her?   
  
Then, she felt something that felt like a small headache. "I bet you're wondering how I've heard of you." John questioned.  
  
"I don't know how you did that, but you must be using some form of mental telepathy." Sally said, the pain in her head remaining.  
  
"Very perceptive." John replied with a smirk.  
  
The pain in her head intensified. Images flooded her mind. An island in the clouds, a red echidna, and an image of her seven years ago standing with that echidna. She knew who that red echidna was, and now she knew why John was giving her these images mentally. She was a good friend of that red echidna, but to do that, it broke some special rules in the echidna's traditions. If John revealed this information verbally, a painful secret of Sally's would be revealed.  
  
The blue echidna before her spoke again. "I have nowhere else to go, your Highness. Will you consider accepting me among your ranks?"  
  
Sally, the pain still in her head, replied, "I...that is, we would be honored to have you amongst the Freedom Fighters. But tell me one thing: why should we trust you?"  
  
John's eyes began to glow. A new image was placed into Sally's head. The image was of Mobius, not as a pristine paradise, but as a polluted, planet-sized fortress.  
  
"What other choice do you have?" John asked. The glow in his eyes dissipated.  
  
"Very well. Your training will take place tomorrow at 2:00." Sally replied, the pain in her head intensifying.  
  
"One more thing: I require a change in surroundings." John said, "I consider this room rather drab and inadequate for my needs."   
  
Sally saw a slight glow in his eyes and ran out of the room. Never before had a fellow Mobian terrified her!  
  
Suddenly, she felt a bit dizzy and slowly collapsed to the floor. Every sight around her became a blur, every sound a chaotic cacophony. Only one thing stood out: John's glowing blue eyes glaring deep at her within her mind, along with a horrible accompaniment of maniacal laughter, "BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"  
  
As Sonic and the others came to help her, she blacked out...  
  
"Sally-girl, are you alright?" Sally heard Bunnie ask. Sally came to in her bed.  
  
"Bunnie? How did I get here?" Sally questioned her partially-roboticized friend.   
  
"Well, Dave and Sonic carried you here after you kind of zonked out." Bunnie answered, "Dave told me to stand guard for you until you regained consciousness, which I might add, you were for a good three hours."  
  
Before the Mobian princess could say another word, the door to her hut opened up and in stepped John the Echidna. He smiled and asked, "Excuse me. Am I interrupting something?"  
  
Bunnie, frowning at John and his intrusion, aimed her robotic arm at him. The metal fingers then bent back as a pistol barrel formed in the palm and fired a red bolt of energy at John. The blue echidna, however, held up his hand in front of the blast and "caught" the blast just inches from the palm.  
  
"Honestly, Madame Rabbot, is that how you greet someone?" John asked, his eyes glowing. He then "shaped" the blast into a ball of energy and had it fly around the room until it soared out the window. The next sound Sally and Bunnie heard was Antoine, Knothole's resident coward, screaming as his head was on fire.  
  
Bunnie, not to be outdone, charged at John, ready to cut him down with a well-placed karate chop from her robotic arm. John, however, stood there looking unimpressed by the rabbit's bravado. He quickly grabbed her other arm, which was normal, and twisted it behind her back. She was now at John's mercy.   
  
"John, let her go this instant!" Sally demanded as she got out of her bed.  
  
"As you wish." John calmly said as he let go and sent Bunnie to the ground.  
  
Sally looked at him disapprovingly and scolded, "That was completely unnecessary!"  
  
Bunnie, however, felt that she had enough and left the room.  
  
John turned to Sally and said, "I'm ready for my initiation and training, your Highness."  
  
Sally gulped a bit. "After what I've seen, HE needs training?" she thought bewilderedly.  
  
A battle staff flew though the window and into Sally's hands. Another battle staff flew into the hut and filled John's hands. With what sounded like a tribal battle cry, John lunged and tried to strike at Sally. But the Mobian Princess was ready to defend herself.   
  
"Here's where all that battle training comes in handy." Sally thought as she fought back.   
  
But as their duel carried on, Sally found that she was practically being outmatched. John fought with greater ferocity and agility than her. Sally was even more surprised when John struck with his battle staff and broke hers in half!  
  
"Now to finish this." John thought.  
  
Sally, however, leaped behind John and then kicked him with enough force to send him sprawling on the floor. But instead of angry mumbling or growling, she heard the blue echidna chuckling.  
  
As John got to his feet, he turned to her and said, "Very impressive, your Highness. I never even saw that one coming. Well, you've proven your mettle to me. I now pledge my loyalty to your cause."  
  
He then went up to her, got down on one knee, then kissed her hand like a noble knight.  
  
Another knight rushed back to his hut in a yellow blur amidst the rain and thunder. Upon his arrival, he saw smoke coming from the chimney. The knight, Dave, entered his hut and saw a cloaked figure trying to keep the fire going. The figure was Kenny the Vampire Bat, Dave's padawan learner.  
  
"So, it's finally happened, hasn't it?" Kenny asked.  
  
Dave smiled with pride. Kenny's control over the Force was growing. "Yes, my young padawan, it has happened. Sally has recruited John to our ranks." he told his winged friend.  
  
"You're worried about what he'll do while he's among us, aren't you?" Kenny asked, "I thought your trainer told you that fear was a path to the dark side of the Force."  
  
"It is, Kenny. But it's not just for me. If John is captured by Robotnik and roboticized, I fear that nothing on Mobius could ever stop him." Dave stated.  
  
"Not even us?" Kenny asked.  
  
"As skilled as we are, John's own reflexes would be so fast, he could possibly make Jedi extinct here." Dave told him.  
  
Suddenly, a lightning bolt crashed down outside of Dave's hut. Dave, however, heard another sound when the lightning bolt came down. It was a scream. A female scream he recognized.  
  
"Bunnie!" he gasped.  
  
He immediately ran out and saw Bunnie lying down on the ground. Her fur was scorched, and her roboticized parts were sparking and fizzing. She looked up at her good friend and weakly said, "Sugah-hog...I...I...ooohhhh..........."  
  
Bunnie then fell limp in his hands. Dave held his friend close to his chest, his tears falling upon her passionate face.  
  
"Dave?" John asked, "Is she alright?"  
  
Dave then wheeled around and aimed his lightsaber's golden blade at the blue echidna's throat. "You did this to her, you demon! You monster!" Dave hissed.  
  
"Are you Freedom Fighters normally this paranoid? I was nowhere near her when this tragedy occurred." John said, not in the least intimidated by the yellow hedgehog's blade of light.  
  
"Whether you did this or not, no one can help her." Dave mournfully whimpered.  
  
"I might be able to help her, but you must trust me." John offered, holding out his hand.  
  
Dave smacked his hand away, growling, "Get serious! No one can restore her. Not even you!"  
  
"Well, it's your choice. Although, it won't do you much good emotionally to carry around a corpse for the rest of your life." John said as he began to walk back to his hut.  
  
Dave thought about his words and then called out, "Wait!"  
  
John laid Bunnie down on a table in his hut after drying her off and fixing up her roboticized parts. Dave held her robotic arm.  
  
"I wouldn't be holding her hand if I were you. Please stand back." John advised.   
  
Dave obeyed.  
  
John then put his hands upon Bunnie's chest and closed his eyes. Dave then saw what looked like electricity flowing from John's mind to his arms and then to his hands. "Clear!" he shouted. Bunnie's body jumped up a bit, then fell flat on the table.  
  
No response.  
  
"Clear!" John shouted as he tried again.  
  
No response.  
  
"Well, third time's a charm." John muttered.  
  
"Clear!"  
  
No response.  
  
"Oh, Bunnie." Dave sadly whispered.  
  
But then, Bunnie's right hand began to rise a bit, her eyes slowly opening.   
  
"Oh...my...gosh. I did it. I DID IT!" John excitedly cried.  
  
He got smacked across the face!   
  
"Don't you ever put your filthy hands on me ever again!!!" Bunnie shouted in a rage.  
  
"Bunnie!" Dave happily cried, "Thank heavens you're alive!"  
  
Bunnie looked at her hedgehog friend, confused at his behavior, "Sugah-hog, what's gotten into you? You're acting like I just passed away but came back." she said as Dave wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"Oh, Bunnie, if only you knew." Dave thought.  
  
"Dave, if I may, I'd like to borrow your lightsaber and see what makes it tick." John requested.  
  
Dave almost said no, but then he thought about what John did for him. "I guess I owe him that much." he thought. He then turned over his lightsaber to John and escorted Bunnie back to her hut.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Dave asked.   
  
Bunnie brushed some hair out of her face and answered, "I feel like I just awoke from a bad dream. But I feel fine, now that you're by my side."  
  
Dave blushed at such kind words. He and Bunnie had been friends ever since their childhood in Mobitropolis. It often broke Dave's heart whenever he looked Bunnie's roboticized limbs. It also angered him to think that she had live like this because of Robotnik. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Kenny running up to him.   
  
"Dave...Dave...just ran John's blood test." the young vampire bat panted.  
  
"Um...Bunnie, could you excuse us?" Dave requested.  
  
"Whatever you say, Sugah-hog." Bunnie said after kissing her hedgehog friend on the cheek, "See you tomorrow morning."  
  
After she left, Dave turned to Kenny and asked, "Now, what did you want to tell about John's blood?"  
  
Kenny calmed down a bit, then explained, "Well, besides having a midi-chlorian of twenty-two thousand, he has dark green blood!"   
  
Dave then asked, "What was that midi-chlorian count again?'  
  
"Twenty-two thousand, Dave." Kenny said again, "But what does it mean?"   
  
Dave took in a worried breath and replied, "I don't know, Kenny. I just don't know. I only pray that Sonic and I didn't make a terrible mistake."  
  
As a year passed, John was truly beginning to prove his worth to the Freedom Fighters. Numerous missions, of John's planning, against Robotnik had gone by successfully. Even though it wasn't the knockout punch, these missions had truly proven victorious in keeping the foul tyrant from further spreading his rule. However, this shift in Freedom Fighter success did not go unnoticed...  
  
"I can't believe this, Snively!" Robotnik shouted at his nearly bald nephew, "Who could this stranger be?"  
  
Snively gulped and answered, "I don't know, sir. The freeze frames of him are too blurred to get a good picture."  
  
Robotnik then rushed forward and gripped his nephew with his roboticized left arm. "Snively, I'm relying on you to aid me in the destruction of this rebellion against me. Can I count on you to do that, or should I roboticize you and make you into a paperweight?!" the bloated tyrant growled.  
  
"By all means, Lord Robotnik, turn him into a paper weight!" Scratch, a tall chicken-like robot, shouted from atop a pile of papers.  
  
"Yeah! My treads are getting paper cuts!" Grounder, a green robot with tank-treads instead of legs, agreed.  
  
"Well, if you captured Sonic or atleast done something to prove your worth to me, then you two bumbling bots wouldn't end up as paperweights!" Robotnik roared.  
  
Both of the Badniks shrunk back in fear.  
  
"Attention!" the Main Computer Droned, "Non-robotic units detected near Sector 125B."  
  
"So the natives are getting restless, eh?" Robotnik grumbled as he tossed Snively aside.  
  
"You would know about restless, you fat grouch!" Snively muttered under his breath.  
  
Robotnik quickly turned on his nephew and growled, "What did you say, Snively?!"  
  
Snively, realizing his cruel uncle heard him, sputtered, "I-I-I-I said that...your robots shouldn't slouch, sir."  
  
"Scratch, Grounder, if you ever slouch again, I'll turn you into scrap metal!" he yelled in full fury.  
  
The two robots looked at each other in total confusion and said, "What did you do?"  
  
Robotnik returned to his metallic throne and sat down, grumbling, "Incompetence, incompetence all around me!"   
  
"Sir! Sir! We have a visual on the new Freedom Fighter!" Snively alerted.  
  
"Very well. On screen." Robotnik ordered.  
  
The screen then displayed the blue echidna among his fellow rebels. "Hmmm...Snively, why does that being remind me of something?" Robotnik asked.  
  
"I don't know, sir." Snively said.  
  
Robotnik tweaked his orange mustache. "Snively, stand by while I search through my memory banks." he told his whimpering assistant.  
  
With that, Robotnik closed his burning red eyes and concentrated...  
  
The images came back almost as clear as crystals. There he was, poised to put a screaming and kicking, blue Mobian child into the Roboticizer, his latest tool in conquering Mobius. The best part was that no one had suspected that he, Warlord Julian, was to sink to treachery in order to claim Mobius as his own. In fact, the blue child was the last witness to his act of betrayal to the Mobian Throne. Once the boy was out of the way, nothing could warn the citizens of their fate. The element of surprise was his.  
  
He ordered his nephew Snively to fire up the Roboticizer. But before he had a chance to put the dreadlocked child in there, the kid bit his arm, causing the would-be tyrant to drop him. But as Julian hollered in pain, something pushed him into the Roboticizer...up to the point where his left arm was right over one of the converters. Without warning, the diabolical device went to work transforming the bloated man's arm from flesh and blood to oil and metal!   
  
As Julian clutched his now-robotic arm, rage began to swell up within him. He looked about for something to take out his anger upon...only to see the small child standing in the windowsill, his eerie slivery-blue eyes glowing. Then the child pointed at him and, in a voice beyond his years, said, "I'll come back. And when I do, you will not be spared." With that, the child spread out the nine dreadlocks that seemed to crown his head and fell backwards out the window. Julian charged to grab him, but he was too late. He then watched as the blue being did a twist and glided away...  
  
"Yes. Now I see." Robotnik muttered to himself, "So he has come back."  
  
"Sir, shall I alert the Swatbots to capture him?" Snively asked.  
  
Robotnik then pounded his metallic throne and shouted, "NO! That little beast has come back for me. He obviously thinks he I'm unprepared. Well, I've a surprise for him."  
  
With that, Robotnik pushed a silvery button on the arm of his throne. A wall opened up behind him, revealing a quintet of strange looking robots. From their chicken-like legs to their orb-shaped bodies, they were definitely unlike the maintenance robots that worked in the bloated tyrant's many facilities. The only things the robots had in common were their basic forms: orb-shaped bodies, green-glowing optic sensors, a mechanical-looking monocle on the right side of their heads, left arms that ended with a four-fingered hand, and right arms that ended with some kind of projectile weapon.  
  
Robotnik puffed himself up with pride. "Snively, may I introduce you to the future soldiers of my empire: The E-Series robots!" he chortled. He then turned to the robots and ordered, "Sound off!"  
  
The first one had a black shell coloring and replied with a very deep voice, "E-101. Codename: Beta."  
  
The second one, red, replied with a slightly deep voice, "E-102. Codename: Gamma."  
  
"E-103. Codename: Delta." droned the third, blue robot.  
  
The fourth robot, orange, replied, "E-104. Codename: Epsilon."  
  
The fifth, purple one answered, "E-105. Codename: Zeta."  
  
All of the robots simultaneously did a salute and droned, "How may we serve you, Lord Robotnik?"  
  
Robotnik, just tickled by their obedience and respect for him, said, "There is a blue echidna with those blasted Freedom Fighters. Destroy him! And if you can, capture any of those rebels and bring them to me."  
  
"As you command, oh Metal Overlord.", the E-Series robots droned. They then left the room.   
  
"Ooooh, the obedience...the precision among ranks. It just makes me tingle all over!" Robotnik thought to himself, as giddy as a schoolboy.  
  
"Sir, how do we know that those robots won't malfunction?" Snively asked.  
  
"So far, only Gamma has shown a few glitches in his obedience." Robotnik answered, "But otherwise, he has performed higher than my own expectations. He, as well as the others, shall do fine."   
  
He then turned to Scratch and Grounder and said, "You two shall not remain idle. Gather the other Badnix and tell them to converge on those Freedom Fighters if the E-100s fail (which is highly unlikely)."  
  
"Sal, are you certain that our blue dreadlocked friend's strategy will work?" Hamlin, a pig, asked.  
  
Sally turned to Hamlin. The pig was just one of eight new recruits. The others included Penelope, a platypus, Dylan, a porcupine, Arlo, a peba (three-toed armadillo), Geoffrey St. John, a skunk, Big, a cat, and Dulcy, a dragon.   
  
"Hamlin, this plan will hopefully shut down Robotnik's control over the Swatbots, leaving Robotnik defenseless." Sally answered.  
  
Sonic then said, "Yeah, except for the Badnix and Robuttnik himself."  
  
John, who was busy trying to dig a hole into the wall of the Swatbot Control Center and plant an explosive charge, snapped, "A little faith in my abilities would be appreciated right now!"  
  
Arlo, nervously shaking like a leaf, said, "I don't like this. It's too quiet. We haven't met any resistance. What if Robotnik knows we're here? What if he's set a trap? What if we're caught or killed?! What if..."  
  
John flew into a rage and yelled, "WHAT IF?! WHAT IF?! WILL ONLY ROBOTNIK'S ROBOTICIZER CEASE YOUR WITLESS DOUBTS?!"  
  
Hamlin then aimed the blaster he had at John and said, "Who're you callin' witless, dreadlocks?"   
  
But then it happened. Hamlin's finger slipped and the blaster he had fired a shot at John! The shot caught him in the back of his left arm. The blue echidna let out a cry of pain, then fell face first into the polluted ground, clutching his damaged body part.  
  
Hamlin dropped his blaster. "Oh, geez! I-I-I'm sorry. It slipped. I swear it did! I d-d-d-d-didn't mean to..."  
  
But then, right before everyone's eyes, John got back up, brushed the dirt from his face, then turned towards Hamlin and angrily stomped towards him. Those that watched John from the back saw that the shot wound on his arm was healing up, almost automatically!  
  
Hamlin tried to back away, but John rushed at him, grabbed him by the neck, and then hoisted him into the air as if the pig Freedom Fighter were nothing.  
  
"How dare you shoot at me, you miserable swine!" John roared in Hamlin's face, "For this, you shall suffer!" Then, surges of electricity soared from John's head and right to his hand, shocking his victim!  
  
"John! Let him go! That's an order!" Sally shouted. But she was lifted into the air and thrown against a group of ruins.  
  
"Make me." John hissed as he continued to torture Hamlin.  
  
Dave sensed what John did and pulled out his lightsaber. He then shouted over, "John, let him go! If you're going to bully someone, pick on someone your own size!"  
  
John, upon hearing Dave, tossed Hamlin at Arlo. He grinned at the hedgehog Jedi and sneered, "Is that a challenge?"  
  
"No, that's advice." Dave replied.  
  
"Sounded like a challenge to me. So be it." John chortled. He then reached to something at his side and then pressed out a button on it. It was a small, metal rod, and out of it came two blue blades of energy, one blade for each side of the rod.  
  
"A double-bladed lightsaber?! That's a Sith Lord's weapon!" Kenny exclaimed while pulling out two lightsabers. Upon activating them, both gave out a green blade of light. "We can take him down, right, Dave?" Kenny asked his friend.   
  
Dave did not immediately respond.  
  
"Um, Dave? We can take him down, right?" Kenny asked again.  
  
But before the fight would start, before anyone even made a move, a sound was heard. Of course, the only ones who heard it were John, Dave, and Kenny. It was the sound of servomotors at work. ROBOTS!  
  
Dave immediately shouted out, "Hold it! Listen."  
  
John, however, ignored Dave and charged at him. During his charge, he lowered his head and rammed Dave in the midsection. The yellow hedgehog bellowed in pain and fell face down, covering the impact point with his arms.  
  
"That was your mistake, fool", John sneered as he brought his lightsaber over Dave's head, "Letting your guard down in the face of your opponent. Now, you will pay the price of your error".  
  
But as John brought the invincible blade of light down towards the yellow hedgehog's neck, intending to cut off his head, Bunnie grabbed him from behind. "You leave Dave alone, you snake-headed, ant-sucking freak of nature", she said in a defiant tone.   
  
Suddenly, she let go of John and backed away from him. Something was occurring right before her eyes. Near the tip of one of John's dreadlocks, a pair of orange eyes opened. Reptilian eyes. Snake eyes! The tip of the dreadlock then opened up like a mouth, revealing a several roles of sharp, venom-dripping fangs. The "snake head" then lunged at her, with the intent of biting her neck! Bunnie was absolutely petrified with fear. Then all of John's dreadlocks took the form of venomous snakes. He turned around and advanced towards the partially mechanical rabbit, the "snakes" all lunging forward to sink their venomous fangs into the non-mechanical portion of her body.  
  
The other Freedom Fighters looked on, confused by what was happening. It only looked like John had his dreadlocks arching above his head and lashing out at Bunnie, who was now beginning to shake violently with fear.  
  
Kenny shouted, "Bunnie, what's going on? Let him have it!"  
  
Bunnie then tripped and fell on her back. She did what she could to back away from the oncoming blue echidna. "SSSSSSSo, I am 'ssssssssnake-headed', am I?" John hissed, almost sounding like a snake.   
  
"What the hell is going on?" Geoffrey St. John asked.   
  
"It's mind trickery." Dave said as Kenny helped him up, "John is using his mental abilities to confuse and frighten Bunnie."  
  
"Well, whatever he's doing, I'm not going to let him continue." Sonic thought as he then performed his Spin Dash at John. The blue echidna turned to face Sonic...and got rammed in the chest! Sonic's spines began to cut into John's flesh, as the blue echidna screamed in pain and anguish.  
  
Then Sonic stopped, his back quills covered in John's dark green blood. "Oh, man! Looks like I'm really gonna hit the showers when we get back home." he complained.  
  
But as Sonic tried to wipe John's blood off of his being, the speedy hedgehog noticed something peculiar. A couple drops of John's blood began to seep into the skin on his arms. Then Sonic felt pain. Intense pain! His quills began to feel the same way. Sonic collapsed to the ground, rolling about and shouting, "Make it stop! Someone! Please!"  
  
John got up, the wound on his chest sealing itself up as he healed himself, slowly advanced towards the hedgehog. "Not so cocky now, are you? Now you know how I feel. I'll make your pain stop, alright!" With that, John kicked Sonic in the face.   
  
"That's it, John! I've had enough of this!" Dave shouted as he charged at the blue echidna...  
  
Meanwhile, the E-series robots plodded through the empty streets of Robotropolis, their combat programming just itching to find a target and obliterate it. One of the robots, however, stopped. That robot was E-102 Gamma.  
  
E-104 Epsilon noticed what Gamma did and immediately demanded, "Unit E-102, why have you stopped? We must proceed and obey Lord Robotnik's orders. "   
  
Gamma then stated, "No."  
  
E-101 Beta heard the commotion, then stomped towards Gamma until he was right in the robot's face. "What did you just say?" Beta said, an almost bestial growl added to his tone.  
  
Gamma then replied, "Robotnik is in wrong. He is in error."  
  
E-103 Delta then asked, "How so? State and specify reasons."  
  
Gamma's optic sensors blinked for a moment as he computed and calculated his reasons. He answered, "He tries to maintain dominance over a biological species that is the most dominant life form on this sphere. But he does so by cruelty, deception, and outright tyranny. Thus, his ways are flawed."  
  
Beta shouted, "I don't give a damn about what you presume is flawed or whatever. Lord Robotnik, our glorious and brilliant creator, has given us orders. We must obey him. Now proceed with your programming!"  
  
Gamma lifted his metal left hand, bent all the fingers into his palm except one, then snarled, "As the matainance robots say, 'Screw you', sir!"  
  
Beta's optic sensors went from green to red. "Very well." Beta hissed, "Then perish, traitor!"  
  
Beta and the other E-series robots then aimed their weapons at Gamma. But that E-series robot was not going to go down without a fight.   
  
"You're logic is flawed, all of you." Gamma stated as he powered up his weapon systems.  
  
Epsilon and Zeta were the first to fire. Gamma skillfully dodged their shots and fired back. Delta and Zeta went down. Epsilon and Beta fired and hit Gamma in the legs. Gamma was now at the remaining two robots' mercy.  
  
Unfortunately, Robotnik never programmed mercy into his creations.   
  
Beta then stepped forward and began to stomp on Gamma's head until the E-series robot's optic sensors faded to black. Gamma was terminated.  
  
Robotnik, overhearing the sounds of weapon fire, contacted Beta over an audio communication link. "Beta! What on Mobius is going on at your location?!" he shouted.  
  
Beta replied, "Mobians fired at us. They took out units E-102 Gamma, E-103 Delta, and E-105 Zeta. Only I and unit E-104 Epsilon remain and shall proceed with your orders. Beta out."  
  
Snively piped in, "See? What did I tell you, sir? You should have field-tested these robots. But do you ever listen to me? Nooooooooo!"  
  
Robotnik seized Snively by the neck. "Snively, I am not in any mood to put up with your ridiculous prattling. SO SHUT UP!"  
  
With that, the Bloated One tossed his whimpering 2nd-in-command to the side. "I can't believe it!" he thought to himself, "Three of my elite robots...destroyed by those wretched rebels! Ooh, they shall pay dearly for this!"  
  
Epsilon then turned to Beta and said, "You realize you just lied to our boss. It should not be in our programming to lie to our creator."  
  
Beta then aimed his arm-mounted missile launcher at his remaining compatriot and snarled, "Would you care to share Gamma's fate?!"  
  
Epsilon answered, "No, sir."  
  
Beta lowered his weapon and hissed, "Good. Then never question my ways!"  
  
Back at the site of the brawl between the Freedom Fighters and John, Dave and the blue echidna were dueling to what would certainly be the death if either of them did not block the other's lightsaber blade.  
  
John then did a leg-swipe and knocked Dave to the ground. He then stood over the hedgehog Jedi, aimed one of the two blue-glowing blades over Dave's throat, and thought, "With one jab, I shall become the master."  
  
Geoffrey St. John, who had a wrist-mounted crossbow, fired a few arrows at John. All of them hit their mark. John then dropped his lightsaber as he screamed in pain and tried desperately to pull the arrows out of his backside.  
  
"Gotcha, ya' devil!" Geoffrey thought with a smirk, "He can't reach to pull those arrows out of his back.  
  
That smirk quickly faded when the dreadlocks at the back of John's head started feeling for the arrows and began pulling them out. John then turned to face the skunk, looking quite furious.  
  
"That was a big mistake, fool!" John mentally told Geoffrey. The skunk then felt a terrible headache coming on. But as seconds past, the headache reached head-splitting proportions. Geoffrey, not able to take the headache, screamed out in pain and horror.  
  
Tails then tried to smack John in the head with a board of wood. Sally shouted, "No, Tails! Don't!"  
  
But John heard Sally shout her warning just in time to whirl around, and use the claws on his fists to rip the board to pieces. Tails then stood face-to-face with the blue echidna.  
  
"A board of wood?! Is that as high-tech as you Freedom Fighters can get? Surely you can do better than that!" John laughed.   
  
Tails then heard what sounded like a missile heading their way. He immediately took to the air.   
  
"Hmph! Coward!" John snorted. But then a missile crashed down where John was and sent him crashing into a stone wall. The wall then collapsed on him.  
  
Sonic then shouted, "Yo! Who fired that missile?"  
  
"Halt! Freedom Fighters!" Beta shouted as he and Epsilon entered the area, "You are all under arrest in the name of Lord Robotnik!"  
  
But then, it happened.  
  
John erupted out of the pile of stone rubble, roaring his rage like a wild beast. "THAT DOES IT!" he growled as he floated in the air. He then put his hands to his head, his eyes and every inch of his skin glowing.  
  
Dave, sensing that something disastrous was about to occur, shouted, "Freedom Fighters! Duck and cover! Retreat! Retreat!"  
  
As the Freedom Fighters scattered and ran for cover, Beta shouted, "Resistance is futile! Surrender immediately!"   
  
Then, with a roar so loud and terrible enough to be considered demonic, John unleashed a burst of lightning from his head, the bolts damaging or destroying anything or anyone that was not quick enough to dodge them.  
  
Beta and Epsilon gazed upon the display...just before a bolt hit them dead on and caused them to short-circuit and break apart.   
  
After several horrifying minutes, the onslaught calmed down and vanished.  
  
"What the heck?" Sonic said as he came out of the spot where he ducked to avoid John's attack.  
  
As the other Freedom Fighters came out of their hiding places, they gazed upon the destruction around them in utter horror. Many of the ruins around them were reduced to rubble or practically nothing at all. The two robots that had threatened them were nothing more but melted scrap. Only a couple of rookie Freedom Fighters were struck down by the bolts that came from John's head.  
  
Big the Cat shouted over, "Princess Sally, I found Sonic! He was buried under all this rubble and his skin's turned a light blue." as he pulled a pale-blue arm out of the wreckage.  
  
"Big, you goof! I'm right over here!" Sonic shouted.  
  
"Huh? Well, if you're over there, then who am I pulling on?" he asked.  
  
His yellow eyes suddenly widened with fright. The pale-blue arm he was pulling out of the rubble belonged to John the Echidna!  
  
"He looks awful!" Bunnie observed. John's skin had turned a complete pale blue, the color gone from his eyes. His skin was shriveled to the point where the others could see his blood vessels and bones.  
  
Antoine commented, "I think I'm going to be ill."  
  
Sally, however, pulled out Nichole. "Hold on, fellow Freedom Fighters. I need to make an analysis of the area. For all we know, we could be in the middle of a potentially radioactive blast field." she said.  
  
Nichole made a scan of the area. "Zero percent radiation detected, Sally. I am, however, picking up massive amount of ionization in the air. Blast radius equal to two city blocks." the hand-held computer replied.  
  
"What about our two recruits?" the Mobian princess asked.  
  
Nichole ran a scan on the two downed recruits. "Please excuse my use of this phrase, Sally, but they are in a state of shock." Nichole stated, "Seriously, they will recover. But for how long until total recovery, even I can't compute."  
  
Sonic then felt something reach into his backpack and pull out the power ring he would normally keep for a supersonic escape. A high-pitched hum was heard in the air. All the Freedom Fighters watched as John began to glow, the power ring in his left hand. After a few seconds, John got up and tossed aside the ring.   
  
"What a rush!" he stated, "Nothing like a little energy to get one up in the morning, eh?"  
  
Geoffrey rushed up and placed cuffs on John's wrists.  
  
"Hey, what's the big idea?!" John shouted in surprise.  
  
Geoffrey forced the blue echidna to the ground and said, "You're under arrest for disobeying direct orders, attacking those in allegiance with us, and unleashing whatever the hell that was you unleashed upon us!" To wrap it up, he kicked John in the head and caused the blue echidna to black out.  
  
Robotnik was completely awestruck as he watched the playback of John's last attack. "By the stars above! Snively, did you see that?" he shouted.  
  
Snively, just as surprised, said, "Indeed, sir. It would appear, however, that the attack drains him of all strength."  
  
"Who cares about that?" Robotnik said, grinning maliciously, "Imagine that kind of power under my control. I will be unstoppable with that echidna at the head of my troops."  
  
Suddenly, the power went out.  
  
"Oh, of all the inconveniences! Where are those two Mechanix drones?" he bellowed.  
  
Just then, the very robots he spoke of entered the room. One was large, cylindrical in body frame, with a smaller cylinder for a head. It had a pair of skinny arms and red shoes. The other robot was smaller than his partner and looked like a cartoonish bomb with skinny arms and legs.  
  
"You bellowed for us, sir?" the larger robot asked calmly.  
  
"Of course, I called for you, you moronic heap of metal! Heavy! Bomb! Get this place back on-line NOW!" Robotnik ordered.  
  
"As you wish, Lord Robotnik." Heavy replied.  
  
"PING, PING!" Bomb answered.  
  
"Snively, tell that dragon of ours to warm up a bath for me, and get my bed ready!" Robotnik ordered, "I feel another headache coming on!"  
  
Snively shuddered a bit, then answered, "Yes, sir."  
  
As the fat man and his shrimp of an assistant left the control room, Heavy then said, "Finally! I thought he'd never leave! Bomb, reactivate the lights."  
  
"Ping ping, ping." Bomb answered as he pulled out a little remote from his mouth and pushed a few buttons. The light came on after a slight hum.  
  
"Excellent!" Heavy thought to himself, "Soon, Bomb and I shall leave Robotropolis and head for my planned-out asylum."  
  
Heavy then went to the main computer, plugged in an input/output jack into a nearby socket, and went to Sensor Control. "Computer, scan for unusual objects in the air forty-five degrees North-East of Robotropolis." he commanded.  
  
"Scanning...............FOUND! Unknown object floating on a South-East course at twenty-five miles per hour. Source of propulsion: Unknown." the computer droned.  
  
"Excellent!" Heavy mused, "Just as I had calculated." He then turned to his counterpart and asked, "Is our special cargo ready?"  
  
Bomb pushed a metallic crate forward and replied, "Ping ping, ping."  
  
"Good." Heavy said as he opened the crate to view its contents. Inside was a large amount of jewels of various colors and high-tech looking weaponry. "With these out of Robotnik's hands, Bomb and I sure to spend the rest of our existence outside of the war."  
  
"Hey, is everything back on-line in here or not?" a female voice called out.  
  
The two robots turned to face the dragon that Robotnik spoke of earlier. Unlike the dragons that Heavy had seen (the ones that were awaiting roboticization), the dragon before him was actually more humanoid in appearance. The dragon had large leathery wings, a thick tail, a head of purple and blue hair, and a row of spikes that went from the top of her head to the end of her tail. She wore jeans pants, a denim vest, and a white T-shirt.   
  
"Yes. Everything is back on-line and ready for tomorrow's operations, Madame Neon Dragon." Heavy stated in a flat monotone.   
  
The dragon, however, noticed the crate behind the two robots. "Hey, what's in the crate?" she demanded.  
  
Heavy and Bomb, realizing they were caught, quickly conspired in binary language. Heavy hastily replied, "Uh...Maintenance supplies."  
  
"Is that so?" Neon Dragon said, eyeing the two robots suspiciously, "How about I look at your 'maintenance supplies'."  
  
Heavy got in her way. "Completely unnecessary." Heavy piped up.  
  
"Ping ping!" Bomb said in agreement.  
  
"Okay. Let me put it to you robots this way. If you do not let me see the contents of that crate, I will have to render you two into steaming piles of melted metal!" she threatened, holding a fireball in her left hand.  
  
Heavy then blurted out, "Alright! Fine! You have us! We were planning on taking these power gems and weapons out of Robotnik's hands, leaving Robotropolis, and seeking asylum on the Floating Island."  
  
"Floating Island?! Great! Now I'm talking to malfunctioning robots!" Neon said with a blast of air from her nose, "I mean, an island that floats in the sky like a balloon? Not only is the very notion absurd, but such a thing defies the laws of physics."  
  
"But it is true! See for yourself." Heavy retorted, gesturing to the main computer.   
  
Neon did see for herself. "Ho ho! Very funny, guys. You probably put this image into the computer." Neon scoffed.  
  
"No, Madame. I assure you, we did not." Heavy plainly stated.   
  
Neon Dragon took another look. Afterwards, she turned to the robots and said, "You guys really aren't kidding, are you? That really is a floating island?"  
  
"As we've told you already. Now, if you don't mind, we must be going." the bulky Mechanix drone said as he and Bomb began to leave.   
  
"Hold it!" Neon shouted, "You think you're just going to walk out on Robotnik like that? Well, I've got something to say to that!"  
  
"Yes? And what is that?" Heavy asked, pulling a blaster out of one of his many built-in, drawer-like compartments.  
  
"You guys should have told me sooner when we were going to leave ol' Fat Boy!" she said.  
  
"What?!" Heavy shouted in surprise.  
  
"Ping?!" Bomb shouted.  
  
"You heard me! If I have to look at that horrid man's fat, naked being again, I'm afraid I'll puke in his presence and he'll turn me into one of those poor souls he has enslaved." she rebuked.  
  
"You think it's any easier for us?! You don't know what foul is until you've smelled one of his...well, I won't disgust you with details." Heavy replied.  
  
"Then I guess we have something in common." Neon suggested, "Tell you what. Take me with you to this Floating Island of yours and then we'll go our separate ways. Deal?"  
  
Heavy's eyes glowed as lines of ones and zeros flashed in an ascending fashion. "Very well, Madame Dragon. We have a deal." he said as he then held out a manipulator to shake her hand.  
  
"Just call me Neon Dragon." she said as she shook hands with the Mechanix drone.  
  
As Neon Dragon and the two robots headed to the port where the egg-shaped Swatplanes were kept, their way was blocked by one of Robotnik's nastier creations. The one known as Metal Sonic! The robot looked like Sonic except it was metallic, the fingers ended in claws, a turbine engine in its torso, and its eyes were black and red.   
  
"Halt!" the sinister silicon Sonic clone ordered.  
  
"I've been given orders to investigate current weather conditions by Robotnik. Now stand aside!" Neon retorted.  
  
"Irrelevant! Robotnik already knows current weather conditions. Smoggy with several freak electrical storms. Everyone in Robotropolis knows that!" Metal Sonic stated.  
  
"And you would have us disobey a direct order from Lord Robotnik?!" Heavy shouted, "Stand aside and let us proceed.".  
  
The wretched machine finally let them pass...until it noticed the crate Bomb was hauling with him. "Hold it! What's in the containment unit?", Metal Sonic asked harshly.  
  
Knowing the jig was up, Neon conjured up a massive fireball and launched at Metal Sonic. With that, the devilish doppelganger melted. But as it did, it said its final words, "Drive safelyyyyyyy...."  
  
"Sally, even you must agree, John is just too dangerous to keep around!", Hamlin said, "You saw what he did to us!"  
  
"That I will agree with you on, Hamlin, but what you're proposing is barbaric and I will not be held responsible for Mobian-slaughter!" Sally argued, "If we do cut his head open and try to find which part of his brain generates all of that power, we might cut out a vital part of him and kill him."  
  
Geoffrey St. John smiled and said, "Actually, that sounds like a good idea to me."  
  
"Well, no one asked you, stinky!" Kenny commented.  
  
"What was that, bloodsucker?!" the skunk growled as he aimed his arm-mounted crossbow at the young vampire bat.  
  
"Who're you calling 'bloodsucker', malodorous one?" Kenny hissed while baring his fangs and spreading out his wings in a threatening manner.  
  
Dave stepped in and shouted, "That's enough from both of you!"  
  
"Our only other option is to send John to the Devil's Gulag. There, he'll be kept out of the wrong hands." Sally stated.  
  
"And the further he is away from us, the better." Bunnie added, "I just get the heebie-jeebies looking into those cold blue eyes of his."  
  
Sally had to agree with Bunnie on that. John's silvery-blue eyes gave him a cold, merciless appearance. And aside of everything else about the blue echidna, Sally felt his eyes were the most chilling. "Well, unless anyone cares to disagree with my plan, John will be shipped to the Devil's Gulag tomorrow morning." she announced.  
  
No one disagreed with that.  
  
No one...except for John. As he sat in his jail cell, wrapped up in a straitjacket, he looked all around him, his cold eyes searching for anything in his surroundings that would help him escape his fate. On top of the straitjacket, there was a heavy chain that wrapped around his very being, several manacles around his dreadlocks, and a muzzle over his mouth.   
  
"The Devil's Gulag...Mobius' Hell!" he thought to himself, "How can Sally do this to me...me, who gave her and her merry little band year's worth of victories?"  
  
But new thoughts flooded his mind. Angry thoughts. Vengeful thoughts. "I thought I could side with the Mobian princess and her friends, and finally feel like I belong." he thought, "But I mentally heard what those foolish followers of hers thought of me. 'Freak of nature', 'hideous monster', 'frightening genetic mistake'! And they think they can win this infernal war without me!"  
  
"I may hate Robotnik for everything he's done, but if I cannot be accepted amongst my own kind, then clearly, I stand alone!", he growled. John then pulled and fought the chains and bonds that kept him captive.  
  
A guard, a black cat named Hershey, came into the wing of the jail where John was kept when she heard the disturbance from his cell. She was well trained by Princess Sally, but she tended to be a bit too over cautious. She opened the door to John's cell, cautiously stepped in and almost gasped in horror.  
  
There was a long chain lying on the ground, several links broken. John broke loose!  
  
"Looking for me?" a voice behind her asked. She turned around. Right in front of her face was John! She wanted to scream, but it was caught in her throat. Hershey watched as a pair of sharp spikes poked out of the straitjacket and tore it apart. John then brought the cuffs around his wrists in front of him and, with all his strength, ripped them apart.  
  
"S-S-S-Stay where you are." Hershey muttered, terrified out of her wits. She then took out her weapon, a small stun club...only to have it taken out of her paws by John as his dreadlocks wrapped around the weapon and broke it in half.  
  
Quickly running out of options, she opted to run and get reinforcements. Suddenly, something wet and thick whipped around her throat and pulled her back into his cell. When she turned to face John, she then realized what was around her throat: it was his tongue!  
  
John's eyes flashed for a moment as he pulled her closer to him. "I think the cell is more suited for you rather than me!" John mentally told her with a chuckle, "Time for a long-deserved rest!". He then slammed his left wrist into her shoulder. She felt a sharp pain from where he hit her. She looked and saw a black spike retract into his skin. Then, she felt a strange numbness wash over her. "Pleasant dreams." John snickered as she fell into unconsciousness...  
  
The next morning, alarms filled the air around Knothole Village.  
  
Sally awoke to someone pounding at the door to her hut. She went to the door, opened it, and saw Dave. "Dave, what's going on?" she asked.  
  
Dave then said the very words she dreaded to hear: John has escaped!  
  
"What?! How it is possible?" Sally asked, dread washing over her like a brisk rainstorm.  
  
"A guard found Hershey tied up and hanging upside-down in his cell. She's alive, but she's knocked out." Dave explained, "There was a puncture wound on her shoulder. I just don't know how he did it either, Sally. But now he's loose. He could be anywhere by now."  
  
"He has to be around here somewhere. Did you find any clues to where he might be?" she asked.  
  
Dave unconsciously rubbed the back of his head and answered, "We checked his hut. Don't ask me how he did it, but somehow, he emptied his hut of everything he had in it."  
  
"Your Highness!" Arlo exclaimed as he entered her hut, "John has escaped by plane."  
  
"How can you be sure?" Sally asked.  
  
"The experimental biplane we had, entitled 'The Gust', is missing. Tails and Kenny were found at the scene, both in a state of unconsciousness." the peba answered.  
  
"Did they, perchance, have puncture wounds on them?" Dave asked.  
  
"Yes. How did you know that?" Arlo asked, bewildered by Dave's knowledge of that factor.  
  
"That, my armor-backed compatriot, is my secret." Dave replied with a smirk.  
  
"Thank you, Arlo. That will be all." Sally said as she dismissed the peba.  
  
As Arlo left, Sally turned to Dave and said, "Just like Hershey. But what could the puncture wounds mean?"  
  
Dave thought about the connection, then came to a realization. "Those spurs! Sally, When Sonic and I found John, we saw what looked like a black spike retract into the skin in his wrist." Dave explained, "It's highly possible that those spurs allow him to inject some kind of paralyzing venom into those who oppose him."  
  
"Great." Sally said.   
  
She then told Dave to send out an alert to all Freedom Fighter groups to be on the lookout for the blue echidna...  
  
"Hey, Charmy. Will you look at that?" an armadillo called out. The armadillo had a red armored back, yellow ears, and red shoes.  
  
Charmy, a small bee with an aviator's cap and tennis shoes, flew over to the armadillo and asked, "Take a look at what, Mighty?"  
  
"Best as I can figure out, it looked like a giant bird, but it made a loud buzzing noise." the armadillo explained.  
  
"Did its wings flap at all?" Charmy asked suspiciously.  
  
"None of four wings flapped." Mighty replied.  
  
Charmy stretched out his arms a bit and said, "Then it was just a vehicle, Mighty."  
  
"Really? You mean like the one that landed here earlier?" Mighty asked.  
  
"Wait! Did the vehicle land?" Charmy asked.  
  
"Of course, it landed, you ninnyhammers!" a voice shouted out.  
  
Mighty and Charmy looked about nervously to find the source of the voice. "C'mon, Espio! We don't have time for your little hide-and-spook games!", Mighty called out.  
  
Just then, a purple chameleon appeared in front of them. He wore a pair of white gloves, a pair of black-and-green shoes, and a frown. "Awww, you guys are no fun. Besides, we're in paradise. We have all the time in the world to have fun.", he stated quite bluntly.  
  
"You forget, Espio, this isn't a complete paradise." Charmy reminded their chameleon friend.  
  
Mighty added, "Yeah. Vector has always told us that as long as Knuckles continues to bully us, we are never in paradise."  
  
Espio snorted, "Well in my opinion, he's doin' a darn good job of making sure our little home in the sky stays that way."  
  
"Sure. But when he needs to let off a little steam or when he's bored, he takes it out on us!" Mighty argued.   
  
Charmy looked around, then asked, "Speaking of Vector, where is that music-loving suitcase?"  
  
Espio answered, "Last time I saw him, he was trailing after that plane that flew over us just a moment ago."  
  
Mighty then said, "Well, let's go make sure that the big guy isn't getting into any trouble."  
  
With that, the threesome tore through the underbrush, following Espio. When they got to the site where the plane landed, they saw Vector arm wrestling with a blue being. Vector was a tall crocodile that had a row of red spines running from his head to his tail, blue shoes, white gloves, a yellow belt, and a head set.   
  
When Espio laid eyes on Vector's arm wrestling opponent, he groaned, "Oh no! Not him again!"  
  
"Him? Him who?" Mighty asked as they hid in the bushes.  
  
"Just the very guy that makes Knux even worse than he usually is. John the Echidna!" Espio said as he grinded his teeth.  
  
"Say, isn't this the same John the Echidna that repaired Vector's headset after Knuckles trashed them?" Charmy asked.  
  
"Yeah, but after that, Knuckles went medieval on John. You know how the 'red hurricane' feels towards technology!" Espio replied.  
  
Mighty frowned and argued, "Then, if anything, Knuckles is in wrong."  
  
Charmy then said, "Shush! Let's see who wins."  
  
As Vector continued his match with John, he grinned and asked, "Had enough?"  
  
John grinned back and replied, "I'm just getting warmed up."  
  
After a while, John began push Vector's arm over to his side. Vector finally caved in and laughed, "Okay! Okay! You win!"  
  
"You always were a softie!" John laughed, "Good to see you again, you ol' piece of luggage."  
  
Mighty then said, "John seems friendly enough to me. Let's go out and greet him.   
  
But before either the armadillo or the bee emerged out of the underbrush, Espio pulled them back. "Don't, you two! You want to bring Knuckles' wrath on all of us?" he warned.  
  
Just then, something red soared above the canopy of the island trees. "Too late!" Charmy gasped, "He's here."  
  
Landing before Vector and John was the 'red hurricane', Knuckles. He was a red echidna with a white ring marking around his neck, red-and-yellow shoes, gloves with a pair of sharp spikes at the fists, and an angry expression on his face. "Doesn't it just figure?" Knuckles snapped harshly, "The minute I see two robots and a couple of high-tech vehicles here on my island, I find you!"  
  
John, looking confused, asked, "Robots? What robots?"  
  
"Don't play dumb with me!" Knuckles growled as he shoved John to the ground.  
  
"Hey, leave him alone! He's done nothing to you!" Vector ordered.  
  
Knuckles turned on him, punched him in the stomach and shouted, "Stay out of this, you crazy croc! This is between me and him!"  
  
"Wrong, Knuckles!" a voice shouted, "Now it's between you and all of us!"  
  
"What the heck...hey!" Knuckles started to say until he felt something punching at his middle. He looked and saw Charmy repeatedly punching him.  
  
"C'mon! Put up your dukes, big guy! Bring it on! Bring it on!" Charmy challenged. He looked up and saw Knuckles glaring down at him. The little bee then made a sheepish smile and quickly tried to fly away to safety.  
  
Knuckles, however, grabbed Charmy's wings. "You're out of your league, shorty." he sneered.  
  
"If he's out of your league, then batter' up!" Mighty said as he swatted Knuckles in the head with a tree. Knuckles was sent flying into the wood works.   
  
"That'll learn ya'." Mighty said as he placed the tree back where he uprooted it.  
  
John, however, followed to where Knuckles lay and rammed the spur on his right wrist into Knuckles' neck. Then, after grabbing Knuckles by his head and using his powers to wipe the red echidna's memory of his being there, he then punched Knuckles in the face and said, "That's for pushing my friends and I around."  
  
John then turned to the armadillo and bee, and said, "Hey, guys, thanks for helping me out when you did."   
  
"Hey, no problem." Mighty answered, "By the way, the name's Mighty". He then gripped John's hand in a firm handshake. However, John could feel Mighty crushing his hand.  
  
"Oh! Sorry. Guess I forgot about my strength." Mighty apologized.  
  
"My name is Charmy Bee." the bee said.  
  
"Glad to meet both of you.", John said, "Now let's get out of here before Mad n' Red wakes up."  
  
"Hey, we could go to my place." Mighty suggested.  
  
John and his new friends arrived at what looked like an open field.  
  
"Um...Mighty, where is 'your place'?" John asked.  
  
"Oh, right! Hang on a second." Mighty said after slapping his head.  
  
Espio then whispered into John's left ear-hole, "Mighty tends to be a bit forgetful at times. Believe me, if I didn't find his prodigious strength useful, I would have just tossed him off of the island."  
  
John, however, thought, "Despite what Espio says, Mighty has amazing strength and a good heart, both of which could prove invaluable to me."  
  
Mighty then stomped the ground two times. Suddenly, part of the ground began to lower down into a dark chamber below the island's surface. "Hey, Heavy! Bomb! We're back!"  
  
"Heavy and Bomb?!" John thought in shock, "Those are the names of Robotnik's chief Mechanix drones! What are they doing here?!"  
  
Heavy came out immediately. "Ah, Master Mighty, you're back." Heavy said, "And with the fugitive Robotnik wants so badly."  
  
"Robotnik?!" Mighty gasped, "John, is this true?"  
  
"Yes, Mighty, it is. Robotnik probably wants to use my powers to suit his dire purposes." John explained, "Which is why I have sought refuge here. Now, what are those two robots doing here?!"  
  
"Easy, John, they're my friends. They arrived here last night, for the same reason you no doubt did." Mighty explained.  
  
"Hmm...alright. Any friend of my friends is a friend of mine." John finally decided.  
  
As they went down into the chamber below, John asked, "What is this place, anyway?"  
  
"This is the Grand Conservatory, where Knuckles' ancestors deposited their abandoned technology." Espio explained.  
  
"Technology? Say, this could work to my advantage." John thought to himself.  
  
He then requested, "Does Knuckles know of this place?"  
  
"Sadly, yes." Charmy said.  
  
"But, if we could turn the bowels of the Floating Island into a hidden base, We could remain hidden from Knuckles and conduct our own operations without his knowing. Who's with me?" John asked.  
  
All of those gathered raised their hands.  
  
"Excellent. And we shall call our base of operations...let's see...how's this? F.I.C.C., which would stand for Floating Island Central Command." John suggested.  
  
"Sounds cool to me!" Vector complimented.  
  
Mighty said, "F.I.C.C., that's what it will be."  
  
Espio just said, "Whatever."  
  
Charmy said, "Good name, good name."  
  
Heavy stated, "Very authoritative."  
  
Bomb replied, "Ping ping! Ping ping!"  
  
"I don't know what that last statement meant, but I'm sure it was a compliment." John said, "Alright, guys, let's get to work. Any questions?"  
  
Mighty raised his hand. "Not that it's really important, but what should we call our group?" he asked.  
  
John thought long and hard. He then snapped his fingers. "How about The Chaotix?"  
  
"Righteous!" Vector blurted out.  
  
"Alright then. Chaotix, it is." John stated.  
  
As the newly named Chaotix spread out to find tools necessary to begin work on their base, John clutched a Chaos Emerald close to his chest, and thought to himself, "And this...this is only the beginning..."  
  
THE END...  
  
or rather, THE BEGINNING...  
  
LEGAL STUFF  
  
The Enforcer Saga, John the Echidna and other such stuff is copyright of me, John Patrick Fadeley.  
  
Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and other persons, places and things are copyright of Sega and Sonic Team.  
  
Dave the Hedgehog and Kenny the Vampire Bat are copyright of David Benjamin Fadeley, my brother.  
  
Lightsabers, blasters, and other stuff are copyright of Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox.  
  
Princess Sally, Bunnie, Rotor, Antoine, Dulcy, and other characters are copyright of DiC, and Archie Comics.  
  
Neon Dragon is copyright of Emma Goodman and her way-past-cool internet persona.  
  
Well, I think that covers that.  
  
Special Thanks  
  
I would like to thank the following and for my own special reasons:  
  
Neon Dragon: You are the first artist to ever do artwork for me. Thank you ever so much for taking an interest in my Saga, for working so hard on the pictures you've done for me, and for your kind words and support.   
  
NoOman: What else can I say? Ever since I mentioned my Saga, you and Neon have been my first fans. Thank you ever so much for your support, for the way-past-cool pictures you've done for me, and for the hilarious birthday picture. ^_^  
  
Dave the Hedgehog: Dave, even though you're a pain in the ass now and then, I thank you for the times when I have felt down in the dumps and you've been there to pick me up. No matter what anyone else says, you have an extraordinary talent and imagination.  
  
Sega, Sonic Team, DiC, Archie Comics, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox: You have all helped to inspire me and bring about the coming of my Saga. Thank you big time!  
  
To the Almighty: I thank you, God, for giving me my talent for literary art, for my boundless imagination, and for my family and friends. Without you, nothing is possible.  
  
THE SAGA IS JUST BEGINNING. STAY TUNED FOR CHAPTER TWO: TAKE OFF!  
  
A past shrouded in shadow, nothing can defeat me. My armor tells me my destiny. -John the Echidna 


End file.
